The smoke stung my eyes as I crawled through the wreckage of what was once Elmshore. My hands trembled, not from fear—but from the pull. It started the moment I saw him: Callahan, towering over flames, his silver-furred wolf form shifting back to human, chest heaving, eyes locking onto mine like we’d known each other for lifetimes.

I should’ve run. Every instinct screamed it. But my body refused. The air between us crackled, thick with something older than language.

He took a step forward. "You feel it too," he said, voice rough as gravel. "The bond. It’s begun."

Behind him, his warriors growled, baring fangs. To them, I was nothing—just an unclaimed omega trespassing in a warzone. But to him? I saw it in his gaze. I was everything.

Then the howls rose in the distance. Shadowfen. Coming fast.

"Stay with me," he said, hand outstretched. "Or vanish into the trees and never look back."

My heart hammered. One choice. One chance.